Vlog/Blog and Book Reviews

Living with Lupus: Saving my spoons

I have once again become active with my Examiner account and renewed my contract. This feels great. Writing for the Examiner has been one of my favorite things to do, it helped generate extra money and it got me into conventions. When I was home sick, I could write. When I was on the road, covering conventions, all I needed was my ipad and a wifi connection. It remains my favorite part-time job.

I’ve been on hiatus though, to take care of my lupus flare. That combined with my job at the Nursing home, sucked out my spoons (see spoon theory here) and I had little left for creativity. I’d think of all kinds of story ideas, but putting them down on the blank screen required brain power and energy I’d run out of. “Does it require energy, really, to sit and think?” Uh, yeah. Yeah, it really does. Energy I didn’t have. I had enough energy to go to work, go to bed, get up and send my son to school (otherwise I never saw him) go back to bed and nap until it was time to get ready for work again. I’d browse the internet and news sources for story ideas, but when I got them started, I’d have to go to work, and at the end of the day, I had run out of inspiration to continue. It was awful and it literally drained my soul. A writer has to write. Really. Literally.

my reason for conquering lupus

Then, my flare hit in the summer, which isn’t unusual. Sunlight exposure heightens my symptoms and ruins my energy. Yeah, kind of like a vampire. Plus, too long without sunblock gives me this groovy splotchy rash. So there I was, working full time, no energy AND in pain. Writing was the furthest from my mind.

Thankfully, I got new meds, a new work schedule and I’m bringing it back, slowly. It’s just taking time. It’s taking time and it’s taking spoons.